2014-06-30

The
photograph below documents the situation at the Maxella AV and Lincoln BL stop
on the BBB number 3 Line. It is the sort of “work” one would expect from the
LACMTA. They taped or caused to be taped shut the aperture in the plastic pipes
associated with power poles. These pipes were used as improvised trash cans.
BBB N.B. The stop still needs a trash can!

Su
Topo will include this comment in every post with the above until BBB corrects
the problem. For quite awhile BBB has been charging for intra-line transfers,
reversing the long standing policy of free transfers to other BBB lines. Too,
BBB has spent lots of money
to build a big headquarters on Colorado BL just east of 4th Street. Mr. King,
just a few dollars for a trash can, you might need a few more to cover other
bus stops too, will erase this section. After all, it is Marina Del Rey! :-)

BBB Maxella Trash Fix???♪

White Line Incursion Series

Su
Topo uses video to highlight the problem of scofflaw drivers endangering Metro
bus passengers yet, no authority seems to want to take ownership of the
problem. The issue is not unique to the particular site which this Mole
documents, but is illustrative of a general problem. Your Mole encourages you
to report similar problems to the appropriate agencies in your area(s) and hope
that you will have better luck than he. In the youtube.com videos linked below
one can see exactly what happens when the policing agencies fail to enforce
traffic laws.

The
videos linked below document the important fact that a never ending stream of
vehicles fail to use the lane as required by law.

Neither
are the policing agencies active when it comes to protecting us by bringing
these obvious and frequent traffic law violations to an immediate halt. The
LACMTA is derelict as well, in that they fail to use the near hourly proof of
the violations captured by the on board cameras, mentioned here and discussed
at length in the posting of 2012-05-31.

In the following videos we
see further instances of scofflaw drivers, some in convoy, cutting in front of Metro
111/311 buses.

Please carefully note that
the pedestrians can be pinned to the curb by the vehicles that cut in front of
the bus —as a result these pedestrians are illegally denied the right-of-way.
Which right-of-way would beunchallengeably theirs IF,
and only if, Mr. Leahy
would have one of his staff explain su Topo’s
simple solution (vide
infra) to him. More scofflaws can be seen here.

1In spite of the potential for these violations to
occur several times per HOUR, I have never seen a police presence at
this location. One would think that with a bus schedule taped to the dashboard
one of the several policing agencies would have made some arrests by now.
Unless they have "more important" work to do, than protecting bus
passengers.

La
Taupe feels that it is appropriate to dedicate these video(s) to ALL the
agencies that should be protecting us. So, they are dedicated to (1): Airport
(LAWA) Police, the L.A.P.D., the L. A. County Sheriff’s Department and Mr. A.
Leahy who is CEO of the LACMTA.

La
Taupe has recommended a simple solution
to the problem. That is, have the 111 Line buses pull up to pedestrian
crosswalk then stop and discharge passengers. Doing so eliminates the space in
front of the bus which the always-in-a-hurry scofflaws use to cut in front of
the bus. But, with the LACMTA nothing is simple. Although the solution could be
implemented with nothing more than a memo to the 111/311 Line drivers, it is a
task for which the LACMTA is inadequate.

The Mole reads the papers and other things,
obviating the necessity of your doing so.

Times reporter (Rocha) covers an Expo Line crash
which involved an automobile and injury to a single passenger on the train and
one occupant of the car.

This unfortunate incident illustrates exactly what
is wrong with mass transit that is non-rapid, i.e., shares the right away with
other vehicles and pedestrians. Rapid
transit involves grade separation1 and would, if the LACMTA
understood the concept, prevent the sort of accident described in Ms Rocha’s
piece, and its future repetitions. A
good example of grade separation is our freeway system and the surface
streets. These two roadways do not
intersect, so that users of the freeways can zip along without worrying about what
is occurring on the surface streets. Of
course, this is not the case with the Toonerville train system cobbled together
by the LACMTA where except for the Green Line; all other surface lines
are NOT grade separated.

1 Regarding “Grade Separation” please see
this, BUT the document should not be accessed by LACMTA staff, management or
politicians because they will find it confusing and disorienting.

The LACMTA

(Subordinate to LAWA)

Presents

Every Which Way But Right!

OR

Four Seats to LAX!

OR

The LACMTA Tries Again: Asymptotically to LAX!

OR

The World’s Most Inconvenient Way in Which to Travel From City Center to an Airport!

The Times reports (Nelson) another chapter in the
LACMTA’s asymptotic approach to LAX.
This “idea” seems to borrow from San Francisco International Airport’s
approach. As I understand it one would
ride the Red Line from Union Station, the Expo Line from 7th/Metro Center to the Crenshaw Line to what what is termed a "people mover". As su Topo envisions a trip to
LAX in the far distant future, a visitor to Los Angeles would somhow arrive at Union Station, travel to the 7th/Metro Center Station haul his
luggage up from the depths up a level and ride the Expo Line to the Expo/Crenshaw
station and drag his luggage on board a Crenshaw Line train and ride to 96th
Street/Aviation Blvd Station then struggle with his luggage aboard a another conveyance. Are we having
fun yet? This is far from a single seat
ride; I hope that the LACMTA is not shocked to hear that. TheLAWA Executive Director has been reporter to favout this four-seat option. Could it be because it presents no threat to FlyAway's lucrative revenue stream? The Mayor, too speaks in support of it, but then again, he will probably never ride it.

Those also serve who show us the way not to do it
and certainly the LACMTA has aptly demonstrated that they cannot plan single
seat transportation from Point A to Point B!
They seem to be following their most recent solution, that is, the
Downtown Connector model, viz., build it, then try to glue it together in the
least sophisticated most costly way possible.

La Taupe is especially disappointed, because try as
he will to educate the LACMTA on the way it is done at every place in the
world, they can’t figure out a way to bring transportation directly
to LAX; sigh.

In a related story the Los Angeles Times documents (Forgione) the fact that the LAWA FlyAway buses (why are they in the bus business?) will offer service between LAX to Santa Monica and Hollywood. Is your Mole too suspicious OR is he correct in assuming that the $8/head collected for each trip could induce the LAWA management to be against a train that ran directly from downtown and served all LAX terminals, as systems do in modern cities? Hmm, someone should be thinking about that and why exactly, is LAWA a competitor of the LACMTA.

The old, now defunct 439 Line, could be reestablished along the lines which were proposed in the past by this Mole; Union Station-West L.A. Transportation Center-Culver City Transit Center –possible service to LAXCBC or a nearby stop-then loop the LAX departure level. Metro could charge $4 for those passengers with luggage and provide racks in an articulated bus and passengers without luggage could pay regular fare. It could be a win-win situation, except for LAWA who, anyway, should not be picking the pockets of the incompetent LACMTA and taking their fares. In short, our taxes, some of which are cycled back from the Federal Government, support the dysfunctional LACMTA, which in turn subordinates itself to the surface policies of LAWA.

The online community (Nolte) says that whites use public transportation in Los Angeles less than do people of colour and that “One explanation is government-sponsored discrimination.” Doesn’t that bus riders’ organization say just the opposite?? In any event, please follow this link and decide for yourself. Dear Reader, please ask yourself —and this is a question that no one associated with the inept LACMTA as asked herself— Would you like to get on a FlyAway bus at Union Station, sit back for a short ride to LAX where you and your luggage will be dropped near your departure terminal.Or would you perfer to go through the four-seat ride (described above) working like a stevadore to get your luggage on to the next train. Then have the opportunity to repeat that action THREE TIMES? La Taupe proposes that ALL construction be halted and the LACMTA be managed and subordinated to a professionally cedentialed Transportation Board. The professionals would represent: transportation planning; budgeting and industrial engineering; all supported by appropriate staff. Freeway issues would be handled by a organizational chart box on the same level as Mass (hopefully RAPID) transit with additional professionals added to the Transportation Board. Politicians, to the largest extent possible would be factored out of all planning. Step ONE would be to appropriately route single seat trains to LAX over existing right-of-way with only two construction projects, performed in the fillowing order: (1) link the Blue Line track with a swichable spur that would join the Green Line track using a flyover; (2) concurrently complete the Aviation spur to a desembarkation point on LAX where Interline Buses (A) could take passengers to their terminals. The next phase would be to build the under terminal loop line that the Airport trains could use, ultimately providing single-seat transportation to the termial. Imporantly, LAWA would be relegated to running LAX and the FlyAway buses would, one way or another be integrated into the improved LACMTA, the sketelon of which is outlined above. There are many details in this propose that need study, refinement and implemtation that should invole better minds than those currently floundering about and developing sub-optimal solutions.

The Times covers (Skelton) State Senator Kevin de León’s criticism of the High Speed Rail system as presently designed [emphasis added]. Senator de León feels, as your Mole does, that the central valley site is inappropriate.

"I don't think it makes sense to lay down track in the middle of nowhere," asserts Sen. Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles). "It's illogical. No one lives out there in the tumbleweeds." Talk about speaking truth to power! “De León, 47, will be California's first Latino Senate leader in 129 years.” The Senator is also sensitive to pollution caused by Metro Link trains which idle for hours while waiting to depart on their next run.

This is the kind of thinking which su Topo doesn’t expect to hear from politicians from a man which this Mole can and will support —now if he would only start thinking about current technology instead of “Bullet Trains”, viz., Mag-Lev.

The Los Angeles Times follows-up (Nelson2) on an earlier piece about a man who was beaten at the Willowbrook Blue Line Station. Sadly, that man has died of his injuries after spending a week in hospital.

Willowbrook is, how can I say?, crawling with deputies performing fare-check duties during daylight hours but after dark there is little or NO SECURITY anywhere in the system. The piece appeals to the public for help in identifying the perpetrators of this June 13 early afternoon assault —but wait a minute!— what about all the platform security cameras? What?? The cameras are dummies or out of tape?? This Mole cannot believe that the LACMTA provides even less security then he thought! May this poor victim —a senior citizen— rest in peace.

Vis-à-vis transit security, take New York City for example, where the MTA is more transparent than our own opaque LACMTA, there are approximately 2,500 Transit Police Officers who provide security.

What can I report about transit security here in Los Angeles? Unfortunately not much —except for the sad stores like the one above or this one about a killing on the Red Line earlier this year.

I searched metro.net using a search argument of security. Shown below are the top results, with the most frequently occurring being the “app”; with the LACMTA it is do-it-yourself security. There is no doubt that ‘apps” and cameras which is an historical record DO NOT replace a determined law enforcement officer determined to do his job!

L.A. Transit Security (Good Luck!)♪

Please read all of the stories cited in this posting
and usually include links in the “Works Cited: section on the ultimate
page.. Every one of these stories is
written by hard-working professional reporters.
I like to read in print where possible, but since I travel, I don’t see
a paper copy of the Los Angeles Times that often.

Gustave
Courbet(1819-02-07~1877-12-31)

Here
is a link to a (Les Cribleuses de Blé), an 1854 painting by Gustave
Courbet. We can
see more of Courbet’s work here. The document is in French, but art is
understood in its’ own universal language, n'est-ce
pas?

¿Musica?

Courbet’s Les Casseurs de pierresere inspired me to find some stone related music. So here is something by Carla Bruni.

Merci beaucoup!, Thank you! to our good friends at www.grooveshark.com for
always providing the appropriate music for us.

The Mole rides again,
you won’t have to be turned down for a free ride on “Dump the Pump Day”.

(All times are
expressed in the 24 hour system.)

Reserved I♪

2014-06-04 early morning: I stand and wait for a bus on Century BL –
stand because the bus bench is in use.

Typical Lax Area
Hotel♪

2014-06-06 @ 14:00: I was in
Beverly Hills on business and on my return trip I met an Australian couple who were
returning to the LAX area, so I rode with them.
They were from Tasmania; you know, the large island South of and part of
Australia. It was an interesting ride for me.
I walked a few blocks from the nearest bus stop with them toward their
hotel before saying goodbye.

2014-06-19 @ 8:00: I board a Metro bus and say “I’m here for a free ride
on Dump the Pump Day”. The driver
replies: “I’ve never heard of it!” The American Public Transportation Association
listed some events associated with “Dump the Pump Day”. The LACMTA is the only organisation which celebratedthe day by destroying
something, a gasoline pump estimated to cost $700~$1000! They could have given away 200 day passes and
perhaps won some people over, instead they performed a foolish and wasteful
stunt. Telling, isn’t it?

CCMBL Onboard Poster♪

Culver City Municipal Bus Lines shows us the
way to do it! Every bus that I rode had
this poster on display well in advance of June 19th. Is there a
better way to introduce the public to mass transit than giving and
introductory free ride? Certainly
crushing a gasoline pump may expose the thought, processes of the LACMTA, but
it is much less a positive introduction than CCMBL approach!

CCMBL Fare Box on Dump the Pump Day♪

There was no mistaking that the rides were gratis on June 19th! There were a lot of smiles on the faces of
the recipients.

Reserved II♪

2014-06-24 early morning: I stand and wait again. The “sleeper” was in the nearby convenience
store but her possessions marked the spot.

2014-06-26 @LAXCBC 15:10: I assist three German tourist from near Hamburg plan their trip to Hollywood.2014-06-28 @LAXCBC 8:25: I map out a route to downtown Los Angeles for a Korean student here on summer holiday.

Ear (and Eye) to the Rail

Transit as unseen and unimagined by the LACMTA

The purpose of this section is to make people aware
that the LACMTA is not home to many problem solvers. I hope to
accomplish this end by presenting the solutions adopted by other cities, some
in foreign countries, in solving the city to airport rapidmass
transportation challenge.

Cautionary Note: Those employed by the LACMTA or LAWA should NOT view
the following video(s). The speed of the train(s), the fact that they
neither share the right of way nor stop at stop lights, because they are truly
rapid transit, will likely make you dizzy, nauseous, confuse and frighten you.

With
the World Cup being held in Brazil, it is appropriate to see how they connect
one airport, São Paulo International, with São Paulo.
After all, the LACMTA shows the world so many ways how NOT to do it —all
at our expense!

Thank you youtube.com for the video! Obrigado!
to “Brazilowcost” who uploaded the
video.

Cosmology

Warp
drive? It appears that in a situation
where life imitates art, that it may be possible- at least NASA, DARPA et al
have a goal to make interstellar travel possible by 2112, ahh, don’t plan to
make the maiden voyage. Learn much more
here.

Fare Box Score Box and related Lists of Shame

I.D. Numbers of buses with Out of Order Fare Boxes:xxxx;

Note:
No or few entries above do not necessarily mean all fare boxes are in
operation.

I.D.Numbers of Distracted Drivers:xxxxx (i);

None
included here, but observations of a minor nature may be included in the main
posting;

Codes:
(i) Extended conversation(s) with passenger(s) or (ii) cell phone call(s).
Frequently, details can be found in the text above, (ii*) cell phone call(s)
which are aggravated by some other action, (iii) Self-distracted. Codes (ii*)
and (iii) will ALWAYS be explained in the posting.

I.D. Numbers of Buses Defaced by WhoIs stickers:xxxx;

~UR
or +UR = (+UR) whois sticker and the ugly residue left after passengers partly
remove the sticker. (~UR) = Only the ugly residue left after passengers almost
completely remove the sticker. +L = an old (legacy) sticker black letters on a
plain white background –these are the original form of the defacement.

* Another reason for displaying the operator's ID
on the internal display and the headsign.

The
format is Driver number F[{Y/-n/+n}] C[{Y/N+/-}]. Meaning of F if Y the driver
stopped with the Bus stop “flag pole” somewhere between the bus front door
frames. A negative number, e.g., -3 is the approximate distance in metres
(think yards dear readers) between the nearest bus door vertical frame member
and the flag pole signifying that the bus stopped short of the flag. A positive
number, e.g., +3 (metres) is the approximate distance between the nearest bus
door vertical frame member and the flag pole signifying that the bus stopped
past the flag. The value for C[{Y/N}], “Y” tells us that the driver stopped
within an easy step from the curb to the bus, “N” means it was NOT an easy step
from the curb to the bus. It is this Mole's belief that an average experienced
good driver should be able to control his bus so as to position in near the
curb and with the flag pole slightly to the front of the bus.

xxxxx F[+4] C[Y];

I.D. numbers of drivers who are unable or unwilling to position their
buses parallel to the curb, a short step from the curb an equidistance
from the vehicles exits.

ADADO = Automatic Destination Announcement (on) Door
Opening. This feature is installed on many buses and operates on extremely few.
Another“money down the toilet” LACMTA investment. La Taupe that this is
intended for the visually impaired because people who can see can read the
“head signs”.

ASAS = Automatic Stop Announcement System the GPS
(Global Positioning System) driven mechanism for generating audio for the
upcoming stops. N.B. Because of the low power (read weak) processors used in
the on-board stops may be too close to identify stops separately. This is known
as a granularity problem. Then too, if the driver operates the bus at speed
above the speed limit you will find the system “back announcing” stops which
you have already passed. I find that this will NOT keep some drivers from
complaining “that you didn’t signal (ring) in time. They don’t understand their
relationship to the system and how, by driving faster than the GPS computer, they
can bias it.

BBB = Santa Monica’s Big Blue Bus

CHSRA = California High-Speed Rail Authority, which is
the equivalent, in more ways than one, of the LACMTA.

CC or CCMBL = Culver City (Municipal) Bus (Lines)

CCTC = Culver City Transportation Center this is the
place formerly known as FHMTC = the Fox Hills Mall Transportation Center
(Sepulveda& Slauson)

FFE = Full Fare Equivalent (presently $1.50)

GMBL = Gardena Municipal Bus lines

ITC = Inglewood Transit Center

LAWA = Los Angeles World Airports.

LAXCBC = the LAX City Bus Center.

OCTA = Orange County Transportation Authority.

OOS = Out Of Service.

Rapid Transit = does not compete for right of way, that is, it
will not run at grade unless it has EXCLUSIVE DEDICATED USE of the right of
way).

R& J = Rough and Jerky [ride].

TT= Torrance Transit.

T1= the normal type of driver/staff.

T2= is the non-stop talker type of driver/staff, on
the phone or to passengers,

T3= the uncommunicative type of driver/staff,
sometimes surly.

WLATC = the West Los Angeles Transportation Center
(Fairfax & Apple)

Su Topo’s Disclaimer and apologia

Your
Mole always attempts to write an easy-on-the-eyes page using text input.
Blogger.com however, has other ideas and will often not stay with a single font
type or point size, produces extraneous spacing and etc. I wish I had time to
debug the HTML which they produce, it is NOT the straight text which I pasted
into the form, but I don’t. Therefore, I apologize on behalf of Blogger.com for
the changes which they make, of which I do not approve. Sometimes, what I see,
thankfully you don’t, is 24 point type –it is giant and other times they
swallow my text, although it still seems to be there. In fairness to them,
things seem better, although this is partly because I do understand which of their
“features” do the most damage to me and consequently do not use them.
Communicating these problems to them, for me, is something like having teeth
extracted without the benefit of anesthetic, actually it is less fun than that.
By their design, there is no simple e-mailing them with "Please look at my
say, posting of 2009-06-28, it is weird!” I have been submitting feedback and
experiences slow but positive progress. Until all issues are resolved, lo
siento.

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